paper
UK /ˈpeɪ̯.pə/ · US /ˈpeɪ̯.pəɹ/ noun, adjective, verb
- noun A sheet material typically used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water. “Draw on the paper! Not on the walls!”
- noun (rock paper scissors) An open hand (a handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors. It loses to lizard and beats Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
- noun A written document, generally shorter than a book; usually written as a school assignment or a government report. “I can't go out tonight. I have a paper due tomorrow, and I need to finish it tonight.”
- noun A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal (as a journal article or the manuscript for one) or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting (such as a conference, workshop, or symposium). “Their team published a paper in the leading journal of their field, and its widespread impact elevated the reputation of their university department.”
- noun (UK, Hong Kong) A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
- noun (slang) Money.
- noun (finance, uncountable) Any financial assets other than specie, including paper money, commercial paper, and others.
- noun (New Zealand, countable) A university course. “She's taking four papers this semester: two in psychology and two in sociology.”
- adjective Made of paper.
- adjective Insubstantial (from the weakness of common paper).
- adjective Planned (from plans being drawn up on paper).
- adjective Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention. “a paper lord”
- verb (transitive) To apply paper to. “to paper the hallway walls”
- verb (transitive) To document; to memorialize. “After they reached an agreement, their staffs papered it up.”
- verb (transitive) To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats.
- verb (transitive) To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.).
- verb (transitive) To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority.
- verb (transitive) To sandpaper.
- verb (transitive) To enfold in paper.
- verb To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers.
Synonyms
paper the house composition report theme newspaper newspaper publisher wallpaper
Etymology
From Middle English paper, from Anglo-Norman paper, from Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus (and given the Catalan suffix -er), from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A substance in the form of thin sheets or leaves intended to be written or printed on, or to be used in wrapping. It is made of rags, straw, bark, wood, or other fibrous material, which is first reduced to pulp, then molded, pressed, and dried.
- noun A sheet, leaf, or piece of such substance.
- adjective Of or pertaining to paper; made of paper; resembling paper; existing only on paper; unsubstantial; as, a paper box; a paper army.
- verb To cover with paper; to furnish with paper hangings; as, to paper a room or a house.
Etymology [F. papier, fr. L. papyrus papyrus, from which the Egyptians made a kind of paper, Gr. Papyrus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “paper”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details